Grey Daze
Grey Daze (1993-1998) was a grunge band that's formed in 1993 in Phoenix, Arizona by the band's lead vocalist Chester Bennington and drummer Sean Dowdell, who were introduced by a mutual friend of the two. The band also featured guitarist Jason Barnes and bassist Jonathan Krause. Originally under the moniker Sean Dowdell and His Friends?, the band released a 3-track cassette, before changing their name to Grey Daze. Jason left the band a while later, and Bobby Benish stepped in to his place as lead guitarist before his death took place in 2004. Biography From 1991 to 1993, they were originally known by the monkier of Sean Dowdell and His Friends? when the band was formed by Chester and Sean. The band also included Jason Cekonic and Chris Goad to perform with them. In 1993, they released their first three-track mixtape that's the same name as the band. Grey Daze released two studio albums during their six years as a band: Wake Me in 1994, and ...no sun today in 1997 with the re-issue done by Sean Dowdell himself in February 2001. The band also released their first four-track mixtape as Grey Daze called Demo in 1993. The Rally Kap Sports Bar Show In 1994, after their first release of Wake Me, Grey Daze have played 12 live shows at the Rally Kap Sports Bar Show. In 2002, a show was planned to raise money for Bobby Benish to pay for his medical bills after he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. However, the show was called off for the recording for Meteora by Linkin Park management and the event was never rescheduled. Chester issued a statement by saying, "It's very unfortunate that we are having to postpone this concert, but our management has pulled everyone back from vacations and various activities in order to meet our recording obligations. However, I will continue to help Bobby and his family at this very difficult time." Sadly on September 28, 2004, Bobby Benish passed away and an online memorial was set up. Video recordings were released by Jonathan Krause containing Grey Daze demos played live at Rally Kap Sports Bar, including "Commit", "Smoke Mouth" which Sean Dowdell, in an interview, explained that "Smoke Mouth" was never recorded in a studio) and "She Shines". On February 3, 2013, the videos were joined together and uploaded on YouTube by John Henry. Departure In 1998, the band parted ways due to differences both in musical pursuits, and conflicts within the band. Chester was unhappy in the band after it turned out that the rest of the guys were trying to take credit for the lyrics that he and Sean had written. In 1998, Chester went on to join early rock band of Linkin Park: Hybrid Theory. Sean Dowdell continued his career as an active tattoo artist, and, in early 1999, formed the now-defunct band called Waterface. Bobby continued to play guitar, and Mace continued to play in various bands, recording on numerous albums. In the past, it has been said that Waterface was a continuation of Grey Daze. However, this was not the case. Waterface is a band that Sean Dowdell joined after Grey Daze had disbanded, and is the only member of Grey Daze who had participated in the band many years ago. The Grey Daze tracks were used as fake release titles for the Linkin Park's third studio album Minutes to Midnight that was widely distributed over peer to peer networks under the Minutes to Midnight tracks. Grey Daze CDs Re-release Mace Beyers re-released new signed Grey Daze CDs by himself on eBay. Members * Chester Bennington - lead vocals (1993-1998)(died in 2017) * Steve Mitchell - guitars (1993) * Jonathan Krause - bass guitars (1993-1995) * Jason Barnes - guitars (1993-1995) * Bobby Benish - guitars (1995-1998) (died in 2004) * Mace Beyers- bass guitars (1995-1997) * Sean Dowdell - drums (1994-1998) * Discography Main article; Grey Daze Discography * Demo (1993) * Wake Me (1994) * ...no sun today (1997) ''Splitting the DNA'' controversy In 2000, downloads of a newly discovered album titled Splitting the DNA were available on the internet. This album was claimed to be recorded by Linkin Park, the band Chester Bennington (former vocalist of Grey Daze) followed in after Grey Daze separated. This "new" album contained songs from Wake Me and ...No Sun Today, two of Grey Daze's two major albums. Because of this, many Linkin Park and/or Grey Daze fans thought this album was a "greatest hits-type album" of Grey Daze's work. However, this is false. The true information regarding Splitting the DNA is that it is simply a fake. In fact, all of the songs on "Splitting the DNA" are re-recorded by an amateur tribute band (one can tell by the poor quality of the songs and the cheap album cover). None of the former members of Grey Daze have announced anything regarding "Splitting the DNA", again proving that it is indeed fake. Links * Grey Daze fan site * Bobby Benish's online memorial * Chester Bennington’s Former Band Grey Daze Working On Album For The Honor Of Him Category:Bands